Enrollment
1,681
Minnesota · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 270720000285
Buffalo Senior High — Buffalo, MN
Federal NCES profile for Buffalo Senior High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 23/100.
👥 Class size 0
📚 AP courses 15
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 16
📋 Attendance 13
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools · Minnesota
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
71.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
25.6:1
vs 15.9:1 Minnesota avg
+61% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
16.3%
vs 42.8% Minnesota avg
-62% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Buffalo Senior High compares with Minnesota and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Buffalo Senior High reports 1,681 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 71.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 25.6:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 61% above the Minnesota state mean of 15.9:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 61% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 16.3% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 62% below the Minnesota average and 69% below the national baseline. The school offers 3 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 420 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 34.9% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools spends $15,572 per pupil district-wide, below the Minnesota average of $21,113 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 28.8% from local sources (property taxes), 62.8% from the state, and 8.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 23/100 (F), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Buffalo Senior High compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Minnesota state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Minnesota | Minnesota avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 25.6:1 | ▲ 61% | 15.9:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 16.3% | ▼ 62% | 42.8% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,681 | top 98% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
16.3%
free-lunch eligible
— 62% below the Minnesota average of 42.8%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
25.6:1
students per teacher
— 61% above state mean
Top 93% in Minnesota — lower ratio than 7% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
34.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$15,572
per pupil, district-wide
— below Minnesota avg of $21,113
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors4.0 FTE
Per 420 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
9
in-school suspensions + 136 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 8.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 1,681 Top 98% in Minnesota — larger than 2% of 2,391 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 71.0
Students per teacher 25.6:1 +61% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 16.3% -62% vs state
NCES ID 270720000285
Student demographics
White 85.6%
Hispanic or Latino 5.6%
Two or More 4.2%
African American 2.9%
Asian 1.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: White at 85.6% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 3
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 4.0
Students per counselor 420:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 34.9%
In-school suspensions 9
Out-of-school suspensions 136
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools, which includes Buffalo Senior High.
$15,572
Per student
-26%
vs Minnesota
Avg $21,113
-20%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 28.8%
State 62.8%
Federal 8.4%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,160
- Students per teacher
- 22.4:1
- Enrollment
- 419
- Students per teacher
- 16.2:1
- Enrollment
- 393
- Students per teacher
- 15.1:1
- Enrollment
- 368
- Students per teacher
- 16.8:1
- Enrollment
- 363
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
Similar high schools in Buffalo
3 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Buffalo Senior High
How many students attend Buffalo Senior High?
Buffalo Senior High has 1,681 students enrolled. It is a high school in BUFFALO, MN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Buffalo Senior High?
The student-teacher ratio at Buffalo Senior High is 25.6:1, which is 61% higher than the Minnesota average of 15.9:1 and 61% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Buffalo Senior High?
16.3% of students at Buffalo Senior High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Minnesota average of 42.8%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Buffalo Senior High?
The largest demographic group at Buffalo Senior High is White at 85.6%. The school serves a diverse student body in BUFFALO, MN.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Buffalo Senior High?
Buffalo Senior High has a Resource Investment Index of 23/100 (F) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.